
that God is our "Refuge, and underneath
are the everlasting arms," or do we mis-
understand sorrow and defy it?
Men misunderstand suffering and sor-
row when they see in it nothing but punish-
ment. They may feel, "This is what I
deserve for my sins. Now I'm paying the
penalty." Or again they may say, "I'm
having some misfortune." To look upon
sorrow in either of these ways is to fail to
hear God's voice. The loving Father does
not want us to suffer; but when the or-
deal comes, He longs to see us turn to Him
with a humble and contrite heart that we
may learn the spiritual lesson it may
teach us.
The Universal Experience
of Sorrow
1.
What question comes to many
when sorrow and tribulation seem to
overwhelm them? Job 3:20; Jer.
20:18.
2.
How may sorrow affect the
physical condition of the sufferer?
Job 17:7; Prov. 15:13, last part.
NOTE.—"The relation that exists between
the mind and the body is very intimate.
When one is affected, the other sympa-
thizes. The condition of the mind affects
the health to a far greater degree than
many realize. Many of the diseases from
which men suffer are the result of mental
depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, re-,
morse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break
down the life forces, and to invite decay
and death."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 241.
3.
What can anguish and sorrow
do to those who are weakened by
their burdens? 2 Cor. 2:7.
NOTE.—"Pain, if sanctified, creates ten-
derness towards others. Alone it may
harden and shut up the man within him-
self, a student of his own nerves and ail-
ments, . . . but; mixed with grace, our
aches and pains are an ointment supplying
the heart, and causing the milk of human
kindness to fill the breast."—The
Biblical
Illustrator,
Hebrews, vol. 2, p. 500.
Reconciled to God's Will
4.
Though death brings sorrow
and grief to all, what comfort has the
Christian in his loss? 1 Thess. 4:13, 14.
NOTE.—"If we are called upon to meet
bereavement, let us accept the bitter cup,
remembering that a Father's hand holds it
to our lips."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 233.
5.
What sustains the child of God
in the hour of sorrow? Deut. 33:27.
NOTE.—"Underneath are the everlasting
arms;
that is, the almighty power of God
is engaged for the protection and consola-
tion of all that trust in Him, in their great-
est straits and distresses, and under their
heaviest burdens. . . . How low soever the
people of God are at any time brought,
everlasting arms are underneath them to
keep the spirit from sinking, from fainting,
and the faith from failing, even when they
are pressed above measure."—Matthew
Henry,
An Exposition of the Old and New
Testament, vol. 1,
Deuteronomy, p. 883.
6.
In facing suffering and sorrow,
what example did the Saviour give
His followers? John 18:11; Matt.
26:42.
NOTE.—"Few things are easier than to
perceive, to extol the goodness of God,
the bounty of Providence, . . . when all
things go well, when our health, our
spirits, our circumstances, conspire to fill
our hearts with gladness. . . . But this is
not the trial, or the proof [of our submis-
sion to God's will]. . . It is in the cham-
bers of pain, the pressures of infirmity; in
grief,
in
misfortune: through gloom and
horror—that it will be seen, whether we
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